This work provides an up-to-date account of the use of electron-volt neutron spectroscopy in materials research. This is a growing area of neutron science, capitalising upon the unique insights provided by epithermal neutrons on the behaviour and properties of an increasing number of complex materials. As such, the present work builds upon the aims and scope of a previous contribution to this journal back in 2005, whose primary focus was on a detailed description of the theoretical foundations of the technique and their application to fundamental systems [see Andreani et al., Adv. Phys. 54 (2005) p.377] A lot has happened since then, and this review intends to capture such progress in the field. With both expert and novice in mind, we start by presenting the general principles underpinning the technique and discuss recent conceptual and methodological developments. We emphasise the increasing use of the technique as a non-invasive spectroscopic probe with intrinsic mass selectivity, as well as the concurrent use of neutron diffraction and first-principles computational materials modelling to guide and interpret experiments. To illustrate the state of the art, we discuss in detail a number of recent exemplars, chosen to highlight the use of electron-volt neutron spectroscopy across physics, chemistry, biology, and materials science. These include: hydrides and proton conductors for energy applications; protons, deuterons, and oxygen atoms in bulk water; aqueous protons confined in nanoporous silicas, carbon nanotubes, and graphene-related materials; hydrated water in proteins and DNA; and the uptake of molecular hydrogen by soft nanostructured media, promising materials for energy-storage applications. For the primary benefit of the novice, this last case study is presented in a pedagogical and question-driven fashion, in the hope that it will stimulate further work into uncharted territory by newcomers to the field. All along, we emphasise the increasing (and much-needed) synergy between experiments using electron-volt neutrons and contemporary condensed matter theory and materials modelling to compute and ultimately understand neutron-scattering observables, as well as their relation to materials properties not amenable to scrutiny using other experimental probes.

中文翻译：

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电子伏特中子能谱：超越基本系统

这项工作提供了电子伏特中子能谱在材料研究中的最新应用。这是中子科学的一个不断发展的领域，利用超热中子对越来越多的复杂材料的行为和特性提供的独特见解。因此，目前的工作建立在 2005 年对该期刊的先前贡献的目标和范围的基础上，其主要重点是详细描述该技术的理论基础及其在基本系统中的应用 [参见 Andreani 等人。 ，高级。物理。54 (2005) p.377] 从那时起发生了很多事情，本次审查旨在记录该领域的此类进展。兼顾专家和新手，我们首先介绍支持该技术的一般原则，并讨论最近的概念和方法发展。我们强调越来越多地使用该技术作为具有固有质量选择性的非侵入性光谱探针，以及同时使用中子衍射和第一性原理计算材料建模来指导和解释实验。为了说明最新技术，我们详细讨论了一些最近的示例，这些示例被选择以突出电子伏特中子能谱在物理、化学、生物学和材料科学中的应用。其中包括：用于能源应用的氢化物和质子导体；大量水中的质子、氘核和氧原子；限制在纳米多孔二氧化硅、碳纳米管和石墨烯相关材料中的水性质子；蛋白质和 DNA 中的水合水；以及软纳米结构介质对分子氢的吸收，这是用于储能应用的有前途的材料。为了新手的主要利益，最后一个案例研究以教学和问题驱动的方式呈现，希望它能刺激该领域的新手进入未知领域的进一步工作。一直以来，我们强调使用电子伏中子的实验与当代凝聚态理论和材料建模之间不断增加的（和急需的）协同作用，以计算并最终理解中子散射可观测值，以及它们与不适合的材料特性的关系使用其他实验探针进行审查。为了新手的主要利益，最后一个案例研究以教学和问题驱动的方式呈现，希望它能刺激该领域的新手进入未知领域的进一步工作。一直以来，我们强调使用电子伏中子的实验与当代凝聚态理论和材料建模之间不断增加的（和急需的）协同作用，以计算并最终理解中子散射可观测值，以及它们与不适合的材料特性的关系使用其他实验探针进行审查。为了新手的主要利益，最后一个案例研究以教学和问题驱动的方式呈现，希望它能刺激该领域的新手进入未知领域的进一步工作。一直以来，我们强调使用电子伏中子的实验与当代凝聚态理论和材料建模之间不断增加的（和急需的）协同作用，以计算并最终理解中子散射可观测值，以及它们与不适合的材料特性的关系使用其他实验探针进行审查。